Hyderabad:
After a double whammy of a report which slammed both the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi, the TV channel owned by Jagan Mohan Reddy has a new target: the new Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Kiran Kumar Reddy was sworn in yesterday. Aware that his success will depend on how he manages the perpetually-rebellious Jagan, Kiran Kumar wasted no time in paying homage to Jagan's father, YSR Reddy.
"It was YSR's last political wish -that the Congress should win 41 seats and Rahul Gandhi should become Prime Minister. I will try my best to fulfill this,'' said Kiran Kumar.
Sakshi TV - the channel owned by Jagan -was less than appreciative. It listed ten challenges that Kiran Kumar faces, and also highlighted the Congress' debacle in the recent Bihar elections despite extensive campaigning by Rahul Gandhi.
The subliminal message- that Kiran Kumar needs to steer clear of trying to hijack the YSR legacy. Since the phenomenally-popular YSR died in a helicopter crash last year, Jagan has asserted his position as YSR's political heir, conducting a tour of the state where YSR was invoked through innumerable speeches and statues marking every stage of Jagan's journey.
Sakshi TV insists that it is has no ulterior motive and is only presenting the sort of political analysis that's offered on most news channels. `Is it wrong to be truthful? Jagan Mohan Reddy's only brief to the channel and newspaper is to be truthful," said P Ram, the channel's Managing Editor.
However, several analysts point out that the same channel had carried repeatedly a statement by YSR when he was alive - he said his ambition was to see Rahul Gandhi take over as Prime Minister in 2014. By expressing a similar sentiment, they say, Kiran Kumar has made it clear that while he respects YSR and his accomplishment, his loyalty lies with the Gandhis.
Sakshi TV's agenda has been questioned since last weekend when a show provided a scathing assessment of the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi. The Congress decided not to penalize Jagan -at least for now- but the open assault led to the resignation of K Rosaiah as chief minister, largely because of his failure to curb the dissidence within the party in his state.